ANGELS 1988 PREVIEW SECTION : Joyner’s Fork in the Road : He Could Be a Legend, or Just Another Fast Starter

Comparisons abound around Wally Joyner. Always have and probably always will.

Before taking his first Angel at-bat in 1986, Joyner was going to be as smooth as Wes Parker and Mickey Vernon, the scouts said. Another Keith Hernandez, if everything went right.

Then Joyner hit 16 home runs in his first six weeks. And then the references suddenly turned upscale--Roger Maris, Wally Berger and Roy Hobbs, the legendary “Natural” in baseball mythology.

The allusions grew more pragmatic last winter, when names and numbers were thrown wildly about during Joyner’s much-publicized contract negotiations with Mike Port. Don Mattingly this. Mark McGwire that. Joyner looked at Will Clark’s 200% pay hike and wanted that. Port looked at the salaries belonging to Glenn Davis and Jose Canseco and gave him that.

During discussions that eventually led to a contract renewal for $340,000, Joyner’s agents repeatedly resorted to the logic of Special Pay For Special Performance. “What Wally has done is exceptional,” Michael Watkins said. “We want the Angels to treat him that way.”

Playing devil’s advocate with this Angel for a moment, let us ask: Were Wally’s first two big-league seasons really all that special?

We know the numbers--22 home runs and 100 RBIs as a rookie, followed by 34 home runs and 117 RBIs in 1987. Back-to-back 100-RBI seasons. A two-year batting average of .288.

But where does that place Joyner in the grand scheme, the all-time scheme? What is his spot in Angel history--and, in baseball history?

Well . . .

Suffice it to say that as an Angel, Joyner has ventured into uncharted territory. As he put it earlier this spring. “I’ve done something that hasn’t been done in 27 years.” And that’s true. To begin your Angel career with 217 RBIs and 56 home runs your first seasons is to make your mark on a slate previously untouched by human hands.

Among his contemporaries Joyner is right there with the cream of his ’86 crop--Canseco, Pete Incaviglia and Clark. And, turning back the years a bit, we find Joyner’s two-year pace to be ahead of such heady competition as Mattingly, Eric Davis and Kirby Puckett at similar stages in their careers.

The all-time perspective? Joyner presently ranks with eight others--including Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams--who started their major league career with consecutive 100-RBI seasons. And did you know that Joyner’s 56 home runs are more than what Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron and Stan Musial managed in their first two seasons?

As they say, you could look it up. We did . . . and this is what we found:

WALLY AND THE ANGELS

By driving in 100 runs in each of his first two big league seasons, Joyner established not one, but three Angel precedents.

In so doing, he became:

(1) The first Angel to break in with back-to-back 100-RBI seasons:

(2) The first Angel to put together back-to-back 100-RBI seasons:

(3) The only Angel to have two 100-RBI seasons, period.

That’s right. In 27 seasons, only eight Angels have driven home 100 runs in a single season--Don Baylor, Bobby Bonds, Leon Wagner, Lee Thomas, Reggie Jackson, Dan Ford, Bobby Grich . . . and Joyner twice.

The closest was Baylor, who foreshadowed his 139-RBI MVP season of 1979 with 99 RBIs in 1978. Those 238 RBIs by Baylor represent the highest two-year total in Angel history--with Joyner’s 217 checking in at No. 2.

Wagner drove in 197 runs in 1962-63 (107 plus 90), but no other Angel totaled more than 180 in consecutive seasons.

Joyner’s two-year home run total of 56 is surpassed only by two Angels. Baylor put together 70 during 1978-79 (34 plus 36) and Wagner debuted as an Angel with 65 during 1961-62 (28 plus 37).

Jackson holds the club record for most home runs in a season with 39 in 1982, but plunged to 14 in ‘83, leaving him with a two-year total of 53. Bonds hit 37 home runs in 1977 but managed just 10 in 1976, his only other Angel season.

Consistency seldom ran rampant among Angel power hitters.

More Joyner facts:

--His 34 home runs last year were the most ever by an Angel first baseman.

--His 117 RBIs last year were the second highest single-season total by any Angel player.

--At 24, he was the youngest Angel to start an All-Star Game since Frank Tanana (23 in 1976).

--His 14 game-winning hits in 1986 are second only to Baylor’s 21 in 1982.

--His 68 extra-base hits last year were the most since Doug DeCinces’ 77 in 1982.

Joyner goals for ‘88:

--The top three-year RBI total in club history is 304, set by Baylor during 1978-80. Joyner can break it with 88 RBIs.

--The top three-year home-run total in club history is 91, set by Wagner during 1961-63. Joyner can break it with 36 home runs.

--With 60 RBIs and home runs, he will break into the Angels’ career top 10 in those categories. He should get there by the All-Star break, making him an all-time Angel leader after 2 1/2 seasons.

WALLY AND PEERS

First, let’s start with the two most frequent Joyner comparisons--Jose Canseco and Don Mattingly.

Canseco, Joyner’s sparring partner in the 1986 AL rookie of the year race, edged Joyner for that award and still holds a slight advantage in career home runs (64) and RBIs (230). But Joyner has Canseco by nearly 40 points in batting average (.288 to .249) and also has him beaten in hits (333 to 306) and runs (182 to 166).

When it came to negotiating a contract with the Oakland A’s last winter, Canseco’s agent, Dennis Gilbert, looked at the stats and had to admit, “Jose’s a notch below Joyner.”

Mattingly, meanwhile, is generally regarded as the premier first baseman in baseball, if not the best player altogether--thus making him an obvious counterpoint for Joyner.

Mattingly broke in slowly with the Yankees. Following his 12-at-bat cup of coffee in 1982, Mattingly had 279 at-bats in ’83 and 603 in ’84. And in those first two seasons, Mattingly totaled 27 home runs and 143 RBIs. Joyner is further along in both categories, although Mattingly’s career batting average after 1984 was .322.

A look at some other Joyner contemporaries after their first two full seasons:

--Will Clark: The Giants’ touted young first baseman has a .299 batting average but his home run (46) and RBI (132) totals sag far behind Joyner’s.

--Eric Davis: The premier talent in the National League had played the equivalent of two full seasons by 1986. At that point in his career, Davis had just 45 home runs, 119 RBIs and a .259 batting average.

--Kirby Puckett: The American League’s best all-around outfielder had only four home runs after his first two full seasons (1984 and ‘85). As a rookie, he had zero home runs and 31 RBIs. His two-year numbers: 105 RBIs, .292 average.

--Cal Ripken: He was the AL rookie of the year in 1982 with 28 home runs, 93 RBIs and a .264 batting average, Ripken followed that up with 27 home runs and 102 RBIs. After two seasons, his batting average (.288) and home-run total (56) were identical to Joyner’s.

WALLY AND THE GREATS

To drive in 100 runs in each of your first two seasons is a baseball feat rarer than pitching a perfect game.

Thirteen players in big-league history have thrown perfect games. Only nine, including Joyner, have debuted with back-to-back 100-RBI seasons.

Of this select group, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams are the most impressive. After his first two years, DiMaggio had an astounding 292 RBIs (125 plus 167) and 75 home runs. Williams’ RBI production was at 258 after two seasons (145 plus 113).

Next up is Dale Alexander, the old Detroit Tiger first baseman, who broke in with 272 RBIs (137 and 135) in 1929-30. Then comes Pittsburgh shortstop Glenn Wright (232; 111 plus 121) and Hall of Fame outfielder Al Simmons (231; 102 plus 129).

With 217 RBIs, Joyner slips right in between Pinky Whitney (218), and Tony Lazzeri (216). Also at 216 is the ninth member of exclusive cast, Ray Jablonski. (Note: Canseco doesn’t qualify here because he spent 29 games with the A’s in 1985, driving in 13 runs.)

Should Joyner produce a third straight 100-RBI season in 1988, he’ll step up into gaudier company. Only four players have accomplished this feat--Simmons, Whitney, DiMaggio and Williams.

Whitney’s streak ended at three seasons, but Joyner will have to go a ways to catch the other three. DiMaggio knocked in 100 in each of his first seven seasons, Williams did it for his first eight and Simons strung together an incredible 11 straight 100-RBI seasons before “slumping” to 79 in 1935.

It is still far too early to begin lumping Joyner in with the all-time greats--whatever happened, by the way, to Ray Jablonski?--but it’s interesting to note where the sport’s legends found themselves after their first two full seasons.

--Babe Ruth: The Babe makes for difficult comparison here because his first four seasons (1914-17) were spent as a pitcher. In 1918, at age 23, Ruth debuted as an outfielder with the Boston Red Sox and batted .300 with 11 home runs and 66 RBIs. The next year, he displayed the promise of things to come with a league-leading 29 home runs and 114 RBIs. He batted .300 or better in both seasons.

--Lou Gehrig: Following brief appearances in 1923 and ‘24, Gehrig got his chance to replace Wally Pipp in ’26 and batted .295 with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs in 96 games. The following year, he was entrenched at first base and finished with 16 home runs and 107 RBIs--bringing his two-year totals to 36 home runs and 175 RBIs.

--Mickey Mantle: The Mick managed to stay in the Yankee lineup for 96 games during the rookie season of 1951, producing run-of-the-mill numbers: .267, 13 home runs, 65 RBIs. His second season showed some improvement (.311, 23, 87), leaving him with 36 home runs and 152 RBIs after two years.

--Hank Aaron: A late bloomer who had his most productive power years after age 30, Aaron broke in with 13 home runs and 69 RBIs with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. Twenty-seven home runs and 106 RBIs the following left him with two-year totals of 40 home runs and 175 RBIs.

--Frank Robinson: Sixteen years before becoming an Angel, Robinson was NL rookie of the year in 1956. He belted 38 home runs that year but managed only 83 RBIs. In ‘57, Robinson hit for a higher average (.322), but saw his other numbers slip. After two years, he had 67 home runs and 158 RBIs.

--Gil Hodges: The modern-day standard for all first basemen, Hodges’ first full season with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1948) was merely average: .249, 11 home runs, 70 RBIs. His 1949 numbers were more typical: .285, 23 home runs and 115 RBIs.

So what does all this prove?

Basically, that the first two years of Wally Joyner’s career are comparable to that of any in baseball history--and, yet, that is no guarantee of super-stardom. At 25, Joyner finds himself staring at the fork in the road. Will he go the way of Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams . . . or Ray Jablonski and Glenn Wright?

“He can be as good as anybody,” the Angels’ Cookie Rojas says. “He can be as good as he wants to be. What he’s done already is amazing--and he’s just going to get better.”

In the meantime, all the rest of us can do is wait, anticipate and appreciate. Let’s do this again, say, in 1996.

HOW JOYNER COMPARES--THE FIRST TWO SEASONS

YR AB R H 2B HR RBI AVG WALLY JOYNER 1986 593 82 172 27 22 100 .290 1987 564 100 161 33 34 117 .285 Tot 1,157 182 333 60 56 217 .288 JOSE CANSECO (Oakland) 1986 600 85 144 29 33 117 .240 1987 630 81 162 35 31 113 .257 Tot 1,230 166 306 64 64 230 .248 WILL CLARK (San Francisco) 1986 408 66 117 27 11 41 .287 1987 529 89 163 29 35 91 .308 Tot 937 155 280 56 46 132 .299 ERIC DAVIS (Cincinnati) 1984 174 33 39 10 10 30 .224 1985 122 26 30 3 8 18 .246 1986 415 97 115 15 27 71 .277 Tot 711 156 184 28 45 119 .259 GLENN DAVIS (Houston) 1984 61 6 13 5 2 8 .213 1985 350 51 95 11 20 64 .271 1986 574 91 152 32 31 101 .265 Tot 985 148 260 48 54 173 .264 PETE INCAVIGLIA (Texas) 1986 540 82 135 21 30 88 .250 1987 509 85 138 26 27 80 .271 Tot 1,049 167 273 47 57 168 .260 DON MATTINGLY (New York Yankees) 1982 12 0 2 0 0 1 .167 1983 279 34 79 15 4 32 .283 1984 603 91 207 44 23 110 .343 Tot 894 125 288 59 27 143 .322 KIRBY PUCKETT (Minnesota) 1984 557 63 165 12 0 31 .296 1985 691 80 199 29 4 74 .288 Tot 1,248 143 364 41 4 105 .292 CAL RIPKEN (Baltimore) 1981 39 1 5 0 0 0 .128 1982 598 90 158 32 28 93 .264 1983 663 121 211 47 27 102 .318 Tot 1,300 212 374 79 56 195 .288 DARRYL STRAWBERRY (New York Mets) 1983 420 63 108 15 26 74 .257 1984 522 75 131 27 26 97 .251 Tot 942 138 239 42 52 171 .254 DANNY TARTABULL (Kansas City) 1984/85 81 11 26 8 3 14 .321 1986 511 76 138 25 25 96 .270 1987 582 95 180 27 34 101 .309 Tot 1,174 182 344 60 62 211 .293